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Lemon!: Sixty Heroic Automotive Failures | 
enlarge | Author: Tony Davis Publisher: Running Press Category: Book
List Price: $12.95 Buy Used: $0.71 You Save: $12.24 (95%)
New (21) from $3.13
Avg. Customer Rating: 3 reviews Sales Rank: 598437
Media: Paperback Number Of Items: 1 Pages: 176 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4 Dimensions (in): 6.3 x 5.5 x 0.2
ISBN: 1560257571 Dewey Decimal Number: 629 EAN: 9781560257578 ASIN: 1560257571
Publication Date: October 9, 2005 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It's true that cars are getting better and better. But sometimes, despite the designer's best intentions, instead of a peach, we get a lemon! And while car enthusiasts will argue endlessly about what are the best cars, they'll argue even more ferociously about what are the worst. Lemon! is a collection of 60 courageous automotive disasters, from the 1958 Ford Edsel (by the 1960s "edsel" was used in the US as a byword for failure, and the 23rd edition of the Webster dictionary made it official) to the much-loved travesty, the P76 (when people took P76s in for warranty work, it was easier to list things that DIDN'T need fixing). From bad design, appalling execution, ridiculous pretensions, and ludicrous names, this detailed and hilarious look at automotive atrocities from the 1950s to the 1990s is a motoring Hall of Shame. With full color photographs throughout and plenty of wackiness, Lemon! will leave you not only laughing, but wondering how so many car makers got away with so much for so long.
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| Customer Reviews:
I Would Actually Recommend His Newer Book You Must Be Skidding! Which is a Combination of Lemon and its Sequel September 18, 2007 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Lemon is a great look at 60 makes of car which have with the benefit of hindsight turned out to be massive mistakes (in the author's opinion). Even without hindsight you wonder how some of these manufacturers actually believed these cars would sell, especially with their safety or non practical designs.
Cars from all over the world are covered, this is one of the factors which makes this book great unlike a lot of author competitors that seem to think the world revolves around just their own country. A fair few of the cars in here actually sold a substantial number of vehicles so there will undoubtedly be a fair amount of debate, especially from those who purchased them as to weather they should be in this book or not. This is the case in all of these types of books and Tony Davis does explain why each car mentioned is here and does acknowledge the ones which have sold well.
I would however if you are only going to purchase one of this type of book recommend purchasing the later written book You Must be Skidding which is a combination of Lemon and the sequel Extra Lemon! It is written in a bit lighter tone to appeal to those who aren't so much into cars and also children and is a lot funnier. At the time of this review though the only book of the three Amazon sold was this first book Lemon so you may unfortunately have to check elsewhere to obtain.
buyer beware December 28, 2005 7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Funny writing I guess. Buyers of these cars probably are not laughing. He defines lemon as the whole line, not just an unfortunate accident off the assembly line. Yes it is possible to build an entirely horrid car. And an expensive one with a famous name. Yes the yugo and Trabant are here but so are Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Cadillac and Jaguar. Just because it offers mink seats doesn't mean it runs as well as a Hyundai. Engines fall apart in 12,000 miles, cars rust in a few months, exhaust pipes set the carpet on fire. One can say ...happens but did some of these designers ever drive a car? Lacking a back entrance would anyone want to take out all the seats just to put their groceries in the back? Why would you want a car that you had to turn the engine off and then turn it on again to shift into reverse? Or lacking a door need to crawl over the side. Did they think anyone would trust a car that shed doorhandles and wipers or in the case of the jagxjs that had a carpet that slid away to reveal a mass of wires and plastic pieces? Didn't the Jensen-Healey makers notice that parking the car on a slope caused the gas to slop into the sump? Rust, pealing and fading paint, dashboards turning green in sunlight....it goes on. Fun to read and hard to stop reading. Would make a good gift for the guest room but it is hard to put down.
Fun Book November 8, 2005 4 out of 9 found this review helpful
What a fun book! I enjoyed it very much, I may not agree with some of the automobiles, but it is a fun look into history. I recently went to an Auto Museum and a few of these cars were there!
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